Class AAAA player of year decommits from Penn State

August 31, 2012

The number of players committed to Penn State for the 2013 recruiting class is back down to nine.

BlueWhite Illustrated's Ryan Snyder reported late Wednesday that linebacker Zayd Issah, the reigning Pennsylvania Class AAAA player of the year from Central Dauphin High School, is reopening his recruitment. Issah's announcement follows those of Ohio cornerback Ross Douglas, Belle Vernon offensive tackle Dorian Johnson, Maryland linebacker Zach Bradshaw and Philadelphia receiver Will Fuller to decommit from the Nittany Lions after the announcement of a bowl ban and scholarship reductions last month as a result of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal and the Freeh report.

Issah's decision was somewhat anticipated. When he picked the Lions this summer, Oregon was his second choice, even though he hadn't received a scholarship offer from the Ducks -- Issah originally is from Oregon. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Issah also has been seeing increasing interest from other top national programs, according to Snyder's report.

Unlike the four other players that decommitted from Penn State after the NCAA sanctions, Issah is not ruling out eventually signing with the Nittany Lions -- he told Snyder Penn State still would be his top choice if letter-of-intent day was today. However, because of the changes since he committed on June 29, he wants to take some times to weigh some options.

Issah is the sixth recruit to decommit from Penn State in the last two months; New Jersey four-star defensive tackle Greg Webb switched his commitment from the Lions to North Carolina -- closer to where his family was moving -- before the NCAA sanctions were announced.

Penn State also has gotten a commitment post-sanctions from Washington, D.C. cornerback Jordan Smith.